Rail Deck Park

Rail Deck Park is a proposed large urban park in Downtown, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Announced on August 3, 2016, the park will be set on a constructed deck that encloses the active Railway Lands between Bathurst Street and Blue Jays Way, west of the Rogers Centre. In total, the park will span 8.5 hectares (21 acres) when constructed.[1] As of November 2017, the City of Toronto estimated the park to cost $1.66 billion.[2] In May 2020, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation released a study saying that once exclusions from the city's estimates are factored in the park would cost more than $3.7 billion.[3]

The plan was met with acclaim in local and national media, and was likened to other similar city rail yard redevelopment projects in North America, such as Millennium Park in Chicago and Hudson Yards in New York City.[4][5]

Development

Background

The plan was first announced to the media in the CityPlace neighbourhood, south of the Railway Lands near Bathurst Street. The announcement was made by Toronto Mayor John Tory and Joe Cressy, city councillor representing the Trinity—Spadina ward who described the project as a legacy for the city.[6]

Development of the park would require the City of Toronto government to purchase air rights of the Railway Lands, which is currently owned by Canadian National Railway, Toronto Terminals Railway and Metrolinx. Costs or timeline of construction of the park were not divulged, but was preliminarily described by Tory to cost "tens of millions of dollars per acre".[6] Toronto chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat will present a detailed report to City Council on the Rail Deck Park proposal in Fall 2017.[7] In December 2017, the Toronto City Council voted in favour of pushing ahead planned work for Rail Deck Park in a 36-4 vote.[8]

Potential extension

Following the initial announcement of the proposed park, the Toronto Star suggested that Rail Deck Park could help revive plans for Oxford Place by Oxford Properties in 2013 to redevelop the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, located east of the proposed park, into public space. A potential eastward extension of Rail Deck Park to include Oxford Place could place the park among the largest rail deck parks in the world, with a total combined park area of nearly 10.5 hectares (25.5 acres).[9]

Competing Proposal - ORCA (Over Rail Corridor Area) Project

In May 2017 a new submission was made to the City of Toronto. The Plan Amendment calls for the north end of the rail corridor to be redeveloped with eight high-rise towers, while just over half of the lot—some 12.8 acres—would be devoted to a new public park on the south half of the site. It was proposed by a consortium identified as P.I.T.S. Developments Inc.[10][11][12] In July 2019, ORCA lost its appeal of the City of Toronto's rezoning of the air rights over the railway tracks for parklands. ORCA will be compensated by the City of Toronto through negotiations or the City will expropriate.[13]

See also

References
  1. "Tory Announces Plan for 21-Acre "Rail Deck Park" Downtown | Urban Toronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  2. "Estimated costs for Toronto's Rail Deck Park rise to $1.66 billion | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  3. https://www.taxpayer.com/media/CTF_Rail_Deck_Park_Costs_Study.pdf
  4. Torontoist (August 4, 2016). "Why the Proposed Rail Deck Park Should Make Toronto Hopeful". Torontoist. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  5. Grabar, Henry (August 5, 2016). "Toronto's Answer to Central Park Could Be a Massive Victory for Public Space". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  6. "Tory Announces Plan for 21-Acre "Rail Deck Park" Downtown | Urban Toronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  7. Rieti, John (April 25, 2017). "Toronto to get expert advice on Rail Deck Park at urban planning conference". CBC News.
  8. "Rail Deck Park plan gets green light, but 1 councillor blasts future spending on 'poodle park' | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  9. "Rail deck park could be extended east to convention centre | Toronto Star". thestar.com. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  10. "ORCA – Where families live, connect and grow". www.orcatoronto.com. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  11. "ORCA or Rail Deck Park: One Site with Two Competing Proposals | Urban Toronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  12. "Battle brews over conflicting plans for rail deck park | Toronto Star". thestar.com. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  13. White, Craig (July 12, 2019). "Rail Deck Park Official Plan Amendment Upheld by LPAT Ruling". Urban Toronto. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
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